Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cultivar Mary.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Kalanchoe plant, botanically known as Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Maryxe2x80x99.
The new Kalanchoe is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hinnerup, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program was to create new freely-flowering Kalanchoe cultivars with compact plant habit and excellent postproduction longevity.
The new Kalanchoe originated from a cross-pollination made in Hinnerup, Denmark, of an unidentified proprietary seedling selection of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cultivar Sumaco, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,151, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Kalanchoe was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Hinnerup, Denmark.
Asexual reproduction of the new Kalanchoe by terminal cuttings taken at Hinnerup, Denmark, by the Inventor, has shown that the unique features of this new Kalanchoe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Mary has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Maryxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Maryxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and compact plant habit.
2. Dark green-colored leaves.
3. Red-colored flowers.
4. Excellent postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Kalanchoe differ from plants of the parents in plant growth habit and flower coloration.
Plants of the new Kalanchoe can be compared to plants of the cultivar Juliana, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,228. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Hinnerup, Denmark, plants of the new Kalanchoe and differed primarily from plants of the cultivar Juliana in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Kalanchoe and the cultivar Juliana differed in leaf size and shape.
2. Plants of the new Kalanchoe had slightly smaller flowers than plants of the cultivar Juliana.
3. Flower color of plants of the new Kalanchoe was brighter red than flower color of plants of the cultivar Juliana.
4. Plants of the new Kalanchoe had better flower longevity than plants of the cultivar Juliana.